company."
Geoff squeezed the man's hand tightly. The Weather Man returned the gesture as best he could. Aimsir then turned to the windows. The storm was raging harder than before. The noise of the rain on the windows was all too obvious.
"Geoffrey, the storm is out of control. Did you get the staff?
“No, not yet,” he admitted.
He grabbed his arm tightly. “Remember what I said. You must find the staff and bring it here. I'm going to need your help to stop it."
They were interrupted by a nurse before he could finish. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to leave. We’re admitting him and visiting hours are long since over."
Geoff turned to face the nurse. "I’m his next door neighbor. What's wrong with him?"
She scribbled something in his chart. "Let's talk in the hall, he needs his rest."
Geoff nodded and waved to Eli. "I've got to go, but I'll find what you need and bring it tomorrow."
The Weather Man raised a hand to stop him, but it was too late. Geoff was already out the door.
Out in the hallway, the nurse explained they were running tests, but did not yet know what was wrong. His pulse was weak and his respiration shallow. She asked if he was a relative but Geoff shook his head. No, just a neighbor, he said. Did the man have a family physician that could be called? Geoff shook his head again. He doubted it, as he was so new to the area.
The doctors would know more when the results of the lab test came back. Geoff knew they would never find the reason. The life force was slowly draining from the man. He was growing weaker by the hour and the doctors would never understand why.
The storm continued throughout the evening. Winds were clocked at 30 miles per hour and rising. Lightning had struck a number of trees and power lines were down throughout the city. The underground drains were beginning to back up and low level flooding was being reported. All Geoff could hear were the constant wails of sirens in the night. He began to get as nervous about the weather as he was about the Weather Man.
When he returned to his apartment, he finally checked his cell phone. There were two messages. Jennifer was wondering why he hadn’t called her yet. She sounded pissed. How the hell was he going to explain this all and have her believe a word? His producer wanted him to report to work immediately and go live with a severe weather update. Geoff left a message with the station receptionist, saying he had a family emergency and the night shift meteorologist could handle it. Jennifer would have to wait. He hated to blow her off but an extended call with her would waste precious time. He had to find the staff before it was too late. With a flashlight in hand, Geoff headed for the roof of his apartment building.
Twelve stories up, the storm was even worse. Wind and rain pelted him from every direction. It felt like rice grains beating against his face. Hunched over for protection, he began searching the rooftop at the base of the elevator tower. It must have rolled off when the cops grabbed Eli.
In the dark and rain everything looked the same. After twenty minutes of looking, he was ready to give up. “I’m sorry Eli,” he mumbled, “I can’t find it.” Soaked and chilled to the bone, Geoff turned to leave. That was when an exceptionally bright flash of lightning lit up the rooftop. Out of the corner of his eye, Geoff glimpsed something long and shiny. Before the thunder had faded, he was on his hands and knees. Prying his fingers into a crack between the tower and the rooftop, he slowly lifted out the staff of the Weather Man.
Shouting in victory, he lifted it in his hands. Once the jubilation passed, he thought to himself, OK now what? Eli told him to bring it to the hospital, but the old man was in no condition to do anything right now, surely not attacking this storm.
Reluctantly, he looked up at the clouds, then at the elevator tower next to him. No, no, bad idea, he thought. He mumbled softly as he trudged around to the ladder. "You're gonna get yourself killed for sure Geoff MacLeod. You'll be struck by lightning and fried like the Colonel’s extra crispy chicken." But he had to try something. With the Weather Man in the hospital, the storm would only get worse. His options were limited.
Up on the tower, Geoff got ready. Feet apart, he held the staff horizontal like Eli had and closed his eyes. He tried to concentrate on the clouds as the old man had said. This is ridiculous, he thought, nothing is going to happen. And nothing did, at first. All that happened is he got wetter and wetter. But then, the staff began to vibrate and his hands started tingling. It slowly spread up his arms and down his torso until his whole chest seemed to vibrate. Then it traveled down his body until he felt the sensation through to his hips, legs and feet.
It was now or never. Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and raised the bar overhead. All at once, his entire body filled with energy. It rushed into him from the staff, flooding every corner of his body. “Wow!” he screamed. It both excited and terrified him. The power seemed to be flowing through him. He’d become a live human conduit of the storm’s vitality. He pulsed with the power, feeling an aura of energy around him.
Swallowing hard, he attempted his first move. The storm needed to be pushed along from west to east, so he brought the bar down and pointed one end at the western sky. The clouds flashed and rumbled in response, as if saying, ‘OK, what are you going to do about it?’ Instantly, he felt energy flow through his arms and out the end of the staff. He was vaguely aware that the pole was now glowing in his hands. He wondered if his eyes were doing the same!
The power was exhilarating. It made him feel athletically primed, hungry for more. Every muscle and nerve was alive and ready for anything the storm threw at him. Confidence filled his brain. He could run a marathon or swim through ocean waves. Bring it on!
“This is awesome!” he shouted. “I can do this!” No wonder Elijah grinned when he was up here, it was absolutely exhilarating! He felt as if the power could carry him off the roof and right into the clouds.
He started his next move, sweeping the bar to the right. Only something went dreadfully wrong. He made it halfway through the arc before an unseen force slapped him from the east. It was the storm fighting back! Geoff lost his balance and stumbled. But strangely, the staff seemed to keep him from falling over. It looped around in his hands, sending a whiplash effect through his shoulders. Sharp pain radiated through his chest and neck. “What the hell?!”
The wind and rain swirled around him like a miniature tornado. The clouds churned and mixed like a witch’s brew, sending out flashes of lightning in all directions. The rooftop was completely lit up like daytime. The thunder was deafening. ‘I'm losing control!’ Geoff thought, ‘the storm is winning!’ It felt like being in rough ocean surf at high tide, constantly being hit by wave after wave of energy. With all his remaining strength, he made one last attempt. He squeezed his grip tightly and pulled the bar back to chest level. The result was nearly fatal. A bolt of lightning struck one of the ventilation ducts not twenty feet away. Geoff could feel his wet hairs stand on end from the electricity. The duct exploded in a shower of fragmented metal. The thunder clap almost ruptured his eardrums.
Geoff released the bar and fell back onto the tower. The energy rushed out of him with such speed he nearly fainted. He felt as weak as a kitten. High above, the clouds rumbled with an almost bear-like roar. Who dared to waste their time?
They were angry, he realized, angry at being disturbed by an amateur. Geoff was in over his head. He hadn't accomplished a thing, except almost killing himself. The cold rain dropped defiantly as Geoff climbed back down the slippery ladder. He was exhausted and nearly drained. You win, he conceded.
Back in his apartment, Geoff stripped off yet another layer of wet clothes. He placed the staff in Eli’s case, then collapsed naked on his bed. Some Weather Man you are, he thought. He felt so alone in this. He wished he could share what was going on with Jennifer. What would he say to her without proof to back it up? That after one day he completely bought some stranger’s wild story about Weather Men? She’d question his own sanity.
There was
only one thing left to try and he didn’t even know if it would work. When his energy returned, he changed into dry clothes and headed for the hospital.
Winds were now gusting up to 50 miles per hour, pushing Geoff’s car into the shoulder. Rain was falling at the rate of an inch an hour. His windshield wiper at maximum speed was nearly useless against the deluge. He could drive no more than 45 for fear of hydroplaning into the guard rail. The radio said that homes and businesses along the river front were being evacuated as the water rose above its banks. Lightning had caused power outages in over half the city. Emergency crews were overwhelmed. Many roads were impassable by car.
By the time he returned to the hospital, things had gone from bad to worse. The Weather Man had fallen into a coma an hour after he left. Now he was hooked up to a half dozen wires and tubes. Three clear plastic bags bottle hung from iv poles and two monitors flashed away numbers near his head. The nurse said they were checking him in and they’d move him upstairs to a room shortly. He breathing sounded incredibly shallow and the flashes from the heart monitor seemed way too far apart. When the nurse had completed her round of checks, he took the staff out of the case. He gently placed the bar on the old man's chest, then wrapped Aimsir's hands